Portland Students Earn Better Scores Than State Average

Portland High School sophomores who took the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, administered for the first time this year, scored higher than the state average in all five sections.

``Anytime we have a standardized test, it gives us an indication of how our students are doing,'' said school board member Karen Castagno, who serves on the board's curriculum committee.

The test was developed by the state Department of Education with the help of more than 100 public school educators. It was given to 28,000 public school sophomores in May.

Fifty-six Portland High School sophomores took the 10-hour test. Two students, who were absent, were excused from taking it.

The test assesses student performances in mathematics, science, language arts in literature and editing, and integrated assessment -- a measurement of a student's ability to apply knowledge to everyday life.

The mathematics section tests students' ability to use computation, estimation, geometry and statistics skills to solve problems. The section's test score ranged from zero to 44, and Portland's average was 28.9, higher than the state average of 24.1.

The two-part language arts section tested reading and analysis skills as well as students' ability to correct and edit grammar, sentence structure and word choices within blocks of text. The range of scores in the language arts in literature comprehension section was 20 to 120; Portland scored 79.2, while the state average was 70.1.

In the editing section, where scores ranged from zero to 18, Portland's average score, 13.5, was slightly higher than the state average of 12.8.

The science section tested students' conceptual understanding of life, physical, earth and space sciences through various multiple choice and open-ended questions. The scores ranged from zero to 70, and Portland's average score was 44.1. The state average was 37.4.

In the integrated assessment section, which included interpretation of reading material and discussion among students in small groups, Portland scored an average of 73.1. The score range was 20 to 120 and the state average was 69.9.

``I'm really proud of what we did,'' School Superindendent Joseph Castagnola said.

A formal presentation of the test results will be given by school officials to school board members after the first of the year.

``It's wonderful to be above the state average, but I'm not sure where that says we are in terms of a town,'' Castagno said.

Portland's results will also be assessed among its educational reference group -- a group of 24 towns that have similar demographics, said David Dole, director of pupil services for Portland schools. Among the towns in Portland's group are Cromwell, East Haddam, Rocky Hill, Old Saybrook and Manchester.

Interpretation of the test results will be left up to each school district.

``There are no goals at this point,'' Dole said. ``The state board hasn't set any. We'll talk about interpreting what this class did.''